About

Alicia bought her first small business in 2000.A single location, prenatal ultrasound clinic.Within 5 years she grew the business to include 23 locations nationwide.During this time she also opened a medical supply distribution company.

Alicia was the elected Treasurer for ESSA, the community association for the American Embassy in Brazil.Overseeing the not-for profit finances of the embassy post office, grocery store, gas station, restaurant and duty free items.Alicia helped make these services profitable for the first time in several years.

From Brazil, Alicia moved to Sweden to serve as the U.S. State Department Community Liaison Officer for the American Embassy in Stockholm.Her responsibilities included managing events, finances, education, crisis management, employment, hosts for new families, and information and resource management.She also had the honor to help organize events for visiting Congressman, Senators, Head of State, Dignitaries, and the President of the United States.

In 2016, Alicia purchased Cascade Balanced Books, a locally well-established bookkeeping and payroll business.Alicia saw Cascade Balanced Books as the perfect opportunity to put her accounting and business background to work for a growing business need.Her priorities for the business are to continue to build client relationships, provide great service, making bookkeeping and payroll more efficient and affordable for small businesses and using technology to streamline services for larger businesses.

Meet Our Team

Kim Bartel

Account Manager

Kim was born and raised in Oregon where she lives in her home town of Wilsonville with her husband and two boys. She has been a bookkeeper and payroll specialist with Cascade Balanced Books since April 2012. With her love of music, Kim enjoys spending time attending rock concerts. She also loves cheering her oldest son at his football games! Together the family enjoys watching football and basketball games at home and live events. Her younger son also keeps her busy with his love of Minecraft and his new hobby of having his own YouTube channel. Kim tries to live life to fullest and enjoys every moment she can with family and friends.

Michelle Blumenthal

Account Manager

Michelle has enjoyed business ownership and work experiences in a variety of industries. She is also happily retired from being a family law attorney and much prefers bookkeeping to everything else she has ever done. As an Account Manager for Cascade Balanced Books, her duties, in addition to occasional bookkeeping and payroll, include tech-support, training, and new account management. Michelle lives in the Eola Hills in the company of her horses, goats, cats, a dog and a fantastic husband. In her free time, she rides, drives, plows and logs with her horses, cooks and gardens, and volunteers with Yamhill County Search and Rescue.

Deb Sandau

Account Manager

Deb works at Cascade Balanced Books as our Payroll, Payroll Tax and Sales Tax Expert. Her past work experience includes bookkeeping for John & Ray Investment Realty, Inc. and a career as an elementary teacher and coach. As a team member with Cascade Balanced Books, she continues to teach and coach her team members and she is always the client favorite. Deb lives on a farm east of Salem where she and her family grow sweet cherries, blueberries and grass seed.

Celeste Huffaker

Account Specialist

Celeste has worked in many different occupational settings from administrative assistant in housing and billing for JW Marriott to case management in child welfare. Her range in work experiences has given her a wide variety of skills, the ability to learn quickly and strong work ethic. Celeste completed her Master's Degree in Social Work and hopes to pursue a career in in Trauma-Informed education while working as a member of the Cascade Balanced Books team. Originally from Utah, she has also lived in Arizona and Maine, and as a new Oregon resident she plans to explore the wonders of the Oregon outdoors as much as possible. Celeste's loves to travel and has been fortunate to explore parts of Europe, Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba and much of the United States.

Marcie Ambrose

Account Specialist

Marcie is a graduate of the University of Utah who formerly worked with Canyons School District interfacing with students and faculty related to educational advancement. Prior to that she worked as a customer representative at a medical office performing billing and office management functions. As a member of the Cascade Balanced Books team, and as a mother of 4 children, she understands the value of hard work and commitment to what matters most. She enjoys summer and winter mountain activities with her children and husband.

About Us

Cascade Balanced Books is dedicated to providing personalized, high quality, professional bookkeeping to businesses and individuals. We are a uniquely personal company offering flexibility as well as professional, knowledgeable assistance.